Machines, such as track-type loaders, are equipped with numerous mechanical arrangements, such as but not limited to, a joystick arrangement, a pedal arrangement, and/or, a seat suspension arrangement. These mechanical arrangements commonly employ a damping system that suitably dampens a mechanical force applied to the mechanical arrangements. Several damping systems are known in the art to provide a damping action. One such damping system may be a magneto-rheological (MR) damping system.
The MR damping systems generally include a housing filled with MR fluid, within which a piston reciprocates due to the mechanical force. During reciprocatory movement of the piston, MR fluid flows axially along a circumferential portion of the piston in a direction opposite to direction of movement of the piston. This flow of MR fluid may provide a viscous drag force (damping force) along the circumferential portion of the piston and facilitates the damping action. Notably, the MR fluid is a mixture of a base fluid with suspended ferrous particles and is responsible for electronic control of the damping forces applied to the piston. In conventional MR damping systems, the flow of MR fluid is unidirectional (in an axial direction) and therefore the ferrous particles tend to settle in the base fluid of the MR fluid. This process of settlement of ferrous particles in the base fluid is termed as “stratification”. Stratification of the MR fluid results in poor control of the damping forces. This results in a substantially degraded damping action.
Chinese patent 1,02,937,158 discloses a ferro-fluid based damper device (MR damping system) that includes a piston component that rotates as well as reciprocates linearly to prevent stratification of the ferro-fluid (MR fluid). Although, this reference discloses the damping system that prevents stratification by a rotation of the piston, however there remains room for simplifying stratification prevention in MR damping system.